A trader walks through the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing trading floor. Hong Kong jumped 383.72 points to 21,962.98  points yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo

Asia’s markets edged up yesterday, with investors sitting on the sidelines as they await the first testimony by the Federal Reserve’s new head to discover her plans for its stimulus programme.

Janet Yellen, who took over as the bank’s chair at the start of the month, will testify to a House of Representatives committee later in the day on the state of the economy and the course of monetary policy.

Sydney rose 0.62%, or 32.4 points, to close at 5,254.5 and Seoul added 0.46%, or 8.76 points, to 1,932.06.

Hong Kong jumped 1.78%, or 383.72 points, to 21,962.98 and Shanghai rose 0.84%, or 17.60 points, to 2,103.67.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

In other markets, Bangkok added 0.43% or 5.59 points to 1,296.25; oil company Bangchak Petroleum gained 2.70% to 28.50 baht, while Bangkok Bank rose 2.02% to 176.50 baht.

Jakarta closed up 0.44%, or 19.44 points, at 4,470.19; state miner Aneka Tambang rose 2.46% to 1,040 rupiah, while telecommunications provider Telekomunikasi Indonesia fell 0.87% to 2,275 rupiah.

Singapore closed up 0.39%, or 11.90 points, at 3,029.10; agribusiness company Wilmar International rose 0.62% to Sg$3.27 while real estate developer Capitaland was up 1.41% to Sg$2.88.

Kuala Lumpur’s rose 8.03 points, or 0.44%, to close at 1,824.17; financial firm CIMB added 1.1% to 7.23 ringgit, while Axiata Group gained 0.9% to 6.56. Shipping company MISC lost 2.1% to 6.10 ringgit.

Taipei rose 0.46%, or 38.61 points, to 8,430.56; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added 1.46% to Tw$104.5 while leading chip design house MediaTek was 2.20% higher at Tw$419.0.

Wellington rose 0.33%, or 15.83 points, to 4,848.88; Fletcher Building was up 1.89% at NZ$9.15 and Telecom gained 0.63% to NZ$2.39.

Manila was 1.06% higher, adding 63.78 points to 6,106.03; Bank of the Philippine Islands rose 0.23% to 87.60 pesos, SM Investments added 0.79% to 700.50 pesos and BDO Unibank gained 1.14% to 79.90 pesos.

The latest gains indicate traders’ nerves may have settled after the turmoil seen earlier February when the Fed said it would further reduce its bond-buying scheme and US and Chinese manufacturing data came in below forecast.

Markets brushed off a second straight set of poor jobs data on Friday, with some blaming severe winter weather for the weak growth, while also pointing to positive news such as a rise in labour force participation.

Yellen’s testimony will be pored over to see if she gives any indication that the central bank will slow down its stimulus tapering. In December, the Fed said it would cut its monthly purchases by $10bn to $65bn. It then announced a similar move this month, sending markets spinning.

Credit Agricole said investors would be keen to see if she maintains a doveish bias on the drawdown, against the backdrop of a more hawkish policymaking committee in the Fed.

“While we do not expect any major deviations from the Fed’s current outlook, her interpretation of the recent softening in US data will be an important driver for markets,” it said.

“Against this backdrop, the extent she views the recent soft patch in data as a function of weather-related effects (and other seasonal distortions) could support policy normalisation,” it said.